


The Big Day

by 126916912



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Exes, Getting Back Together, Hangover, Las Vegas Wedding, M/M, Roofies, Sort Of, Weddings, background Ju Haknyeon/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu, not a realistic representation though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29106981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/126916912/pseuds/126916912
Summary: Sangyeon wakes up a few days before his friend's Vegas wedding with the hangover from hell and also a husband. Unfortunately the husband ends up being his ex-boyfriend and that only makes his hangover worse.
Relationships: Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Lee Sangyeon
Comments: 12
Kudos: 32





	The Big Day

Only slightly worse than the usual way of waking up each morning is the scream which cleaves right through Sangyeon’s skull. The screams are in stereo, or chorus, or something else which makes noises far loud for Sangyeon to want to put up with the racket for too much longer. 

"Shut up!" Sangyeon grumbles as he tries to pull a pillow over his head. That only makes the screaming louder. Sangyeon joins in the wailing. He can't cope. He hates this. 

* * *

The screaming makes a lot of sense an hour and a half later when Sangyeon has managed to drag himself out of bed and stopped himself from barfing everywhere. He bought himself some sunglasses from the hotel giftshop and hopes maybe he looks more alive than he feels. Sitting in one of the hotel restaurants doesn't seem like the best option seeing as the smell of the all-day breakfast is challenging his stomach to hold onto its meagre contents. 

"So," Hyunjun says as he leans forwards and nudges a glass of fruit juice closer to Sangyeon, "You got married." 

"God," Jaehyun says as he drops his head onto the table. 

"Can I ask why you got married?" Hyunjun says. 

"You can ask. You won't get an answer though," Sangyeon offers. His voice rasps out of his throat and he quickly needs to close his mouth because he is worried about what else is going to come out. 

"Eric was sure something terrible had happened," Hyunjun says. "He kept calling and neither of you picked up. But you were just drinking. And getting married."

"We didn't get married, we didn't get married, we didn't get married," Jaehyun mutters over and over as a hellish mantra. Unfortunately Jaehyun's words don't make anything less true. The message from the Clark County Marriage Bureau letting Jaehyun know that the paperwork for their marriage certificate had been submitted looked official enough. As text messages go. Maybe it is a joke. Sangyeon is still hopeful that it is a joke despite not being as vocal as Jaehyun. 

Hyunjun sounds almost gleeful when he says, "You're married. Was this the plan all along? To hijack Haknyeon's wedding and elope? It isn't something spontaneous. You can't just get married. You had to go somewhere else to apply for the marriage licence and then you had to come back to the strip to find someone to marry you. You did it on purpose."

"We didn't," Jaehyun says as he lifts up his head. "We didn't get married at all, let alone on purpose. It didn't happen."

"Do you think the marriage still counts if you never claim the certificate?" Hyunjun asks. 

"Can we talk about something else?" Sangyeon asks. He belches quietly and chugs some of the fruit juice but that only emboldens the acid reflux searing in his chest. 

"Like what?" Hyunjun asks with a frown. "Nobody else got married yet. Eric cried all the way through dinner because he thought you had died and then we had to try to calm him down. That's why we couldn't come and find you. Chanhee actually said that you both disappeared for the attention and he managed to convince everyone else that was what happened."

That sounds about what Sangyeon would expect. He wishes Chanhee had been right. Sangyeon’s life would be so much nicer if he had thought of disappearing with his ex just for the attention. Sangyeon doesn't look in Jaehyun's direction. It doesn't matter what he thinks anyway. Jaehyun is at the wrong stage of denial when he should have had enough time to get to the point where he would consider trying to work out how to become unmarried. 

Hyunjun doesn't look much like he is bothered about assisting, not when he spent so long repeating the same thing over and over whilst Sangyeon staggered around his room when dressing. He glances at his phone and frowns. When he looks up he says, "If you're against admitting you're married, you will have to think up a really good excuse to explain why you both disappeared yesterday. Haknyeon was pretty upset."

"Why wasn't that the first thing you said?" Jaehyun groans. Sangyeon would like to ask that question but he keeps his mouth shut just in case his words turn to bile before making it out of his mouth. 

* * *

Haknyeon won the lottery. 

He was going through a run of particularly bad luck seeing as his landlord was keen to evict him right after he lost his job. But it wasn't all bad. Jaehyun's parents had a spare room which saved Haknyeon from being completely homeless and he still tried to be the same happy Haknyeon everyone knew him as. 

There was a cheery woman who often went to chat with him whilst he was job searching at the cybercafé three bus stops away from Jaehyun's home and she always had something encouraging to say. 

After a particularly disastrous job interview on a suitably miserable day, Haknyeon's umbrella was torn right out of his hands and into the path of the bus he was supposed to catch. Haknyeon missed the bus but the bus didn't miss him as it sped right through a huge puddle and drenched him, leaving his mangled umbrella in its wake. Haknyeon decided to walk home to try to dry off seeing as the rain was letting up and a bird subsequently evacuated its bowels all over Haknyeon's Interview Suit. 

Haknyeon had absolutely rotten luck, but he recalled something that the cheery woman told him. It was actually good luck. It was rare. So Haknyeon bought himself a lottery ticket and decided that if he won, even if he just won back the price of the ticket, he would ask the woman out on a date. 

Haknyeon won the lottery. The jackpot. And the next time he saw the cheery woman, Haknyeon asked her name and then asked if she wanted to go on a date. 

Two years later, Haknyeon and Jiwoo are getting married. 

Sangyeon knows all the ins and outs of this fairy-tale romance because he was there for a great deal of it. The combined efforts of Sangyeon and Jaehyun whenever they tried to cheer Haknyeon up weren't anything close to Jiwoo's influence, but that is what makes Sangyeon so much happier that Haknyeon found someone like Jiwoo. It was also nice to see how easy falling in love was for Haknyeon and Jiwoo. They were what dreams were made of. They still are. 

Falling in love was easy for Sangyeon too but then he had to pretend that falling out of love was just as simple because he and Jaehyun made a habit of breaking up. They weren't a good match. They didn't want the same things from life. For all the parts of Haknyeon and Jiwoo's story that Sangyeon wasn't around to see, he got filled in whenever he and Jaehyun decided to try things out again. There was always hope that there was someone out there who might perfectly occupy that love-shaped space in Sangyeon’s life just like Jiwoo and Haknyeon had been for each other. 

Of course, sitting in Haknyeon's suite, just days before his wedding at the luckiest (or statistically unluckiest) place on earth, Sangyeon doesn't feel as though he would make it to meet that person who is perfect for him. Instead, it would be much nicer for the ground to swallow Sangyeon up and then reseal all the fissures in the floors of this hotel so that no trace of Sangyeon’s sorry existence remains on earth (aside from his name on the marriage certificate which will apparently be processed within three more working days). 

"I wanted to do something really fun with everyone. I got everyone tickets to a great magic show yesterday and we were all supposed to have dinner and then there was a Mariah Carey tribute act that we were all going to see with the girls. But one of my best men decided not to turn up. And even one of Jiwoo's bridesmaids disappeared but at least she reappeared when she was meant to. But you two were gone all night. Did you not want to come over here for my wedding? You could have said no. Jaehyun, you could have said no when I asked you to share best man duties with Sunwoo."

Sangyeon wasn't even given a particularly important role in the wedding, he is just a guest, but he feels ashamed enough that he feels like he has ruined the entire thing. He sneaks a look at Jaehyun whose face is pulled into the shape of heartbreak. So Haknyeon is doing a great job of telling them off. 

"I want to be here," Jaehyun says. "I love you, Haknyeon, I want to be here for your wedding."

"I called you so many times. Both of you. I was worried. Just because I didn't cry about it like Youngjae it doesn't mean that I didn't care. I thought something had happened and I felt bad for bringing you both to this foreign country where something happened to you." Haknyeon looks cautiously between Sangyeon and Jaehyun before he asks, " _ Did  _ something happen to you?" 

Sangyeon would love to answer this question but he can't remember much and sitting here without any sunglasses is making him regret the fact that he bothered pretending to be a functioning adult. Fortunately, Jaehyun decides to answer on his behalf. 

"We got married."

"What?" Haknyeon looks mostly like he thinks this is a strange joke. Sangyeon wishes Jaehyun had kept his mouth shut instead. 

* * *

"Haknyeon is a romantic guy," Jaehyun grumbles. As he strides along the hotel corridor. Between suffering from a bout of motion-sickness in the lift and the psychedelic carpet making every step an adventure into the unknown, Sangyeon can't keep up. Jaehyun is kind enough to raise his voice when he notices Sangyeon has fallen too far behind. "I thought he would be happy for us or something. Maybe that he just wouldn't care."

" _ You're _ not even happy for us," Sangyeon points out. He braces himself against the wall but he doesn't see any success in moving from this spot. Jaehyun walks back to meet Sangyeon and offers his arm as support. 

"Sangyeon, how could I be happy that we went crazy and did something like this? But maybe we didn't. Can you hurry up so Sooyoung can tell us whether we actually did it?" 

Once they reach the room Sooyoung is sharing with Jinsol, Sangyeon immediately needs to be sick. When he staggers back into the main room, Jaehyun is lying facedown on one of the beds and groaning whilst Sooyoung is sitting on the other bed and painting Jinsol's toenails. Sangyeon can easily guess what the answer was. 

Carefully, Sangyeon sits on the edge of the bed Jaehyun has occupied. 

"How are you feeling?" Jinsol asks with a kind tilt to her head. 

"Is it possible to vomit to death?" Sangyeon asks. Even Jaehyun takes a break from groaning into the bed to laugh, muffled into the stark white sheets. 

"Haseul came armed with an entire medicine cabinet," Jinsol says as she sweeps her dark hair over her shoulder. "I think there should be something to settle your stomach in the bathroom." 

Sangyeon looks towards the bathroom. From where he is sitting it looks like a journey too far despite being the place he just came from. 

"I'll get it," Jaehyun grumbles. He rolls dramatically off the bed but Sooyoung doesn't even react. When Jaehyun shuts himself into the bathroom to wail like he is auditioning for a disaster movie, Sooyoung finally stops painting Jinsol's toenails and levels a glare at Sangyeon. 

"After you've taken your medicine you should get him out of here quickly. I wouldn't want to make you a widower the day after you got married."

"Sorry," Sangyeon offers. He doesn't really know what to say to Sooyoung. Out of the two women in the room, it was Jinsol who struck Sangyeon as too intense when they first met but Sooyoung is the one who has shown herself time and time again to make people meek with nothing more than a glare. Even now Sooyoung exhales harshly through her nose whilst Jinsol keeps her understanding smile in place. 

"You know what these two are like," Jinsol says, patting Sooyoung's thigh. But Sooyoung isn't happy to smile along about all the times she butts heads with Jaehyun. 

"What does this have to do with me? I tried to talk them both out of this but I was apparently ruining things. I kept quiet and was their witness and it is suddenly my fault that they're married."

"I'm sorry," Sangyeon says again. There is only so much one word can do and it is useless here. Sangyeon isn't going to convince Sooyoung to talk but he suspects he wouldn't like what he hears even if he does find everything out. 

Jaehyun emerges from the bathroom and pours Sangyeon a glass of water from one of the bottles in the mini fridge. He offers Sangyeon a blister pack of chewable tablets and sits beside him on the bed. Sangyeon is chewing two of the antacids when he notices the glare on Sooyoung's face. 

"We should go," Sangyeon says as he stands and reaches for Jaehyun's hand to pull him up too. Jaehyun doesn't argue against it but once they close the door behind them as they leave they immediately encounter two more of Jiwoo's friends. The smaller of the pair is Haseul whose face lights up when she says, "Congratulations!" 

Somehow this congratulations is also deserving of hugs but Haseul doesn't make them shuffle awkwardly in the corridor for too long before letting them escape. The taller friend with her looks confused but Sangyeon tries to look on the bright side and consider how that girl didn't already know that Sangyeon and Jaehyun were awful enough to get married at their friend's destination wedding. Not until Haseul began explaining it, at least. 

"What are we going to do?" Jaehyun grumbles as he links their arms and rests his head on Sangyeon’s shoulder as they make their way back to their own room. 

"Do you want to go to the pool?" Sangyeon suggests. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


There are multiple open-air pools on various floors at the hotel, so Sangyeon thinks it is unfortunate that he and Jaehyun are so easy to track down. Sangyeon just wants to endure the rest of his hangover in peace. He doesn't mind Hyunjun finding them because he is always in the mood to see Hyunjun. What Sangyeon is not in the mood for is Chanhee and Sunwoo tagging along and announcing that someone who desperately needs to speak with them is on their way. 

"Chanhee, what part of me looks like I want to have a serious conversation?" Sangyeon asks. 

"They said it was important."

"I doubt that," Jaehyun says. "Besides that, I don't think the sun loungers are meant to be used like that."

Chanhee peers over Sunwoo's shoulder and pulls a face. Sangyeon also doubts the sun loungers are intended for two people to lie huddled together under a parasol but he is feeling mean and mostly hopes he will get to see some misfortune befall them. 

The misfortune arrives for Sangyeon and Jaehyun instead in the form of Jacob, Younghoon, and Kevin. 

"Anyone want a drink?" Kevin asks as he brings over a bottle of champagne on ice. Hyunjun sits up and looks curious but he sends a glance Jaehyun's way before lying down again and deciding he does not want a drink. 

The three of them perch at the foot-end of Hyunjun’s sun lounger with cautious smiles on their faces. 

"How are you?" Kevin asks. 

"Terrible," Jaehyun says. "We still can't remember anything. We're not even horrible friends on purpose, but we've got ourselves uninvited to Haknyeon's wedding."

"It doesn't matter if you can't remember," Chanhee pipes up, "You disappeared for the attention."

Kevin nods. "I think we might be able to help you to work things out with regards to not remembering."

"That's nice," Sangyeon says as he sits up. "Do you have a magic memory pill?"

"I know you're just being catty but you're scarily close to the mark," Kevin says with a lopsided grin. 

"What does that mean?" Jaehyun asks quickly. "Does a magic memory pill exist?" 

Kevin elbows Jacob but that doesn't do much so Kevin sighs and claps his hands together. "So there isn't a magic memory pill in the way you're thinking of. You have heard of Rohypnol, right?" 

"The date-rape drug?" Jaehyun squawks. Sangyeon can already see where this is going. 

"I'm going to kill you."

Kevin laughs. "Please don't. Consider instead killing the two people sitting next to me who are refusing to say anything."

That works too. Jacob and Younghoon have proved to be docile enough in the past that Sangyeon might be able to do the job in this delicate state. 

"I'm sorry," Younghoon wails as he drops his head into his hands. "I just wanted to help."

"What were you going to help by drugging us?" Sangyeon asks. He pushes up his sunglasses and beckons Hyunjun over to move away from the bad men. 

"You drugged them?" Chanhee asks as he throws a flip-flop which unfortunately misses Younghoon's head. "What is wrong with you?" 

"I just wanted everyone to relax. Seeing as you yelled at everyone so much when we first arrived I thought it would be good for you."

"To be drugged?" Sangyeon adds. It seems prudent to remind Younghoon what has happened because it requires a bit more than this half-hearted confession. 

"I had a really great day the other day. I think. Mostly. I felt great, probably. And I talked to Jacob about it and thought it might be good for you two to relax a bit too."

"Younghoon, what are you saying?" Chanhee asks. He doesn't miss with his flip-flop this time and Sunwoo untangles himself to retrieve the once-projectile footwear. 

Jacob finally decides to open his mouth. "Some people take certain drugs recreationally because they just make you relax. The only problem is that they also make you forget. But that isn't really a problem if that is what you want. The main point was the fact that we wanted you to unwind and not ruin this whole trip for yourselves."

"What makes you think we both need to relax?" Sangyeon asks. 

"You shouted at everyone in the lobby for twenty minutes as soon as we arrived," Jacob says quietly. 

"They shout at everyone all the time, they're horrible people," Chanhee points out. Sangyeon only half agrees with that statement and he can't imagine that a bit of shouting is any reason to drug two friends. The excuse doesn't hold up at all when Sangyeon thinks about the reason for the shouting. 

When they first arrived at the hotel they discovered that room arrangements had been predetermined by the rest of the group and were apparently non-negotiable. Of course Sangyeon and Jaehyun were both unhappy. Sangyeon doubts anyone else would want to share a room with their ex for a week but nobody was sympathetic and they were all united in their silent refusal to switch rooms. So more shouting was in order. 

"Nobody would have needed to drug us if someone had just switched rooms."

"But don't you think the pair of you are unreasonable?" Jacob asks. "Why should everyone else have to change their plans to accommodate your dramas that you insist on dragging the rest of us into?" 

"Jacob, I encourage you to go somewhere else for a while."

"No," Jacob says. "Why do we all have to do what you two say? This is Haknyeon's trip, not yours, so I don't see why the rest of us have to tiptoe around you."

Sangyeon, for one, is gobsmacked. He clearly isn't the only one seeing as chanhee lifts his hand to his mouth and shakes his head, silently scandalised. 

"What is happening?" Jaehyun says. "Did you take something to swap personalities with someone?" 

Kevin peers at Jacob expectantly and says, "He  _ might  _ have taken something before coming here."

"That doesn't mean what I am saying is wrong," Jacob says as he shrugs away Kevin's hand. "You don't even want to consider that Younghoon is feeling really guilty about what happened."

"I feel terrible. I gambled too," Younghoon groans. "Do you think I will have to go to prison?" 

"You'll be fine," Sangyeon says. 

"How do you know? Did you gamble too?" 

"No, Younghoon. I was drugged and then married someone who hates me."

"I don't—" 

Sangyeon does not have time for whatever Jaehyun is about to come out with, so he says, "Be quiet, I am trying to prove a point."

"Oh," Jaehyun says. "Gosh, I hate Sangyeon  _ so  _ much, everyone."

The reaction is not quite what Sangyeon had envisioned as he reaches back to squeeze Jaehyun's hand in thanks. 

"You got married? That's amazing!" Kevin cheers. Surely he has taken something dodgy too if he can't quite see that he shouldn't be looking so happy as he tries to pull Jacob into an awkward hug. At least he is the only one who thinks this is a good thing. Everyone else looks more baffled than anything as they all ask stupid questions at the same time. 

Hyunjun rests his chin on Sangyeon’s shoulder and hums, quiet, close to Sangyeon’s ear and says, "I didn't think you would just tell everyone."

"We're not actually married," Jaehyun says. 

Kevin's face falls quickly and he looks much less festive about the whole thing. "So you just lied." 

"That's not what I am saying. Apparently we did get married but it's not real," Jaehyun insists. 

Considering the strange mood he is in today, it is Jacob who says, "If you get married in Vegas you are also married everywhere else in the world."

"But it's not legal at home."

"Right," Jacob agrees, "But it is legal in lots of other places. If you got married, you're married."

Jaehyun ruminates on that for a moment whilst Hyunjun presses closer against Sangyeon’s side. In all honesty it doesn't seem fair that Jacob would claim there is anything real about this wedding when Sangyeon isn't happily being congratulated by his family. He is instead feeling increasingly guilty about the fact he hadn't thought to invite Hyunjun along despite not being in the right frame of mind to think up a guestlist. 

"Do you think we can get it cancelled if we tell them we were drugged?" Sangyeon suggests. 

"Forget that," Sunwoo says from the possibly protective headlock that Chanhee has him trapped in. "How did you even get married in the first place? If I needed to do something important in English you two would be the last people I would think of."

"That's actually a really good point," Kevin says. 

"We're not that bad at English," Sangyeon grumbles. He has been wondering that himself but that isn't the point right now. "I hope you're not all going to forget that we were drugged."

"Everyone already moved on from that," Sunwoo says. 

"I don't want to swim anymore," Sangyeon announces. 

"You weren't swimming in the first place," Chanhee calls after Sangyeon. But the ambience of the outdoor pool had been enough like swimming before everyone else came to ruin his day.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sangyeon can't sleep off the remaining fug of his hangover even though he is trying his best to keep his eyes closed and pretend his mind isn't racing too fast to let him rest. 

"Can I get into bed with you?" Jaehyun asks after he has closed the door to the room quietly behind him. He pulls the covers back from Sangyeon’s head and he is already half into the bed. He looks almost guilty when he says, "We're still not invited to dinner, let alone the wedding." 

That's fine. They still have time to apologise to Haknyeon until he is annoyed into accepting them back. For now Sangyeon wouldn't be able to eat anyway. He's past the age of quick recovery from hangovers. Though he is jealous that Jaehyun isn't quite at that age even if he is crawling into bed to share the suffering. 

"Isn't this like when we used to live together?" Sangyeon asks. Jaehyun smiles and pulls the covers back over their heads. 

"I miss those days," Jaehyun says as he reaches for Sangyeon’s hands.

"This is more like when we lived together when we were broken up. Remember, when your mum would be extra nice to me even though we were arguing dinner every day. We'd go and argue in your room, and then we would still end up going on dates with other people at the end of the week and come home to fight again. Good times."

"You went on way more dates than I did," Jaehyun says. 

That is true. But Sangyeon doesn't know what else was expected of him when he needed to get over Jaehyun. It never worked. Jaehyun was impossible to get over no matter how hard he tried. Sangyeon has even managed to move back home with his own parents since the last breakup yet they ended up married. 

"You can go on more dates to make up for it if you'd like."

"We're married now, how could I?" 

"That's not funny," Sangyeon chuckles. He presses his face into the pillow and he feels Jaehyun shuffle closer. 

"I'm sorry that you had to marry me."

"I'm sorry that you had to get married at all," Sangyeon replies. "We can work something out and get this cancelled. You don't have to be tied down to me for your whole life."

Jaehyun sweeps Sangyeon’s hair back from his face and presses close enough that their foreheads touch. "I know you always say that you want what your sister has, but did you ever want to be with me forever? You used to tell me you loved me, right? How much did you love me?" 

"I can't answer that," Sangyeon says. "I just want to sleep."

Sangyeon has an answer, a horrible, awful answer that never occurred to him until he found out what Jaehyun's answer was almost two years ago. He realised precisely what he wanted when he found out that Jaehyun didn't want the pressure and expectations which came along with forever. He wanted all the things that Jaehyun didn't. 

"Can I talk?" Jaehyun asks. He doesn't wait for a response. He kisses Sangyeon’s forehead and slides an arm around his waist. "I love you. I still do. I hated the fact that you wanted marriage but you didn't necessarily need that to be with me."

"What does that mean?" 

"I never wanted you to find someone else. I was terrified that one day you would. What was I supposed to do if you found someone who made you happier than me?" Jaehyun asks. 

Sangyeon gives up on sleeping. He sits up and pulls the covers away. Apprehension is heavy in Jaehyun's face as he slowly sits up too. 

"Jaehyun, we've been through this before."

"Should I just accept things I don't want just because we've talked about it before?" 

"You have to," Sangyeon confirms. He has had to accept plenty of things he hates hearing too. "I couldn't force you to stay with me when you don't want all that commitment."

"But you didn't even give me the chance to change my mind," Jaehyun says. He keeps his hands to himself but Sangyeon can see the way Jaehyun's fingers are twisting together in his lap. 

"You shouldn't need to change your mind for my sake." 

"But I already did. And then when you asked me to marry you, my first thought was maybe this was it, we were going to have another chance."

"When did I ask you to—?" Sangyeon doesn't need to finish the question. Another one rises to the back of his mouth to replace it. "Jaehyun, do you remember?" 

Jaehyun's face pulls into tentative denial but only Sangyeon has been suffering through each unnecessary interactions they have both been forced through today. Maybe Jaehyun was never drugged at all! What sort of idiot does that make Sangyeon?

"No," Jaehyun says. "I know what you're thinking and I don't remember. Not everything, but I am pretty sure you asked me to marry you. Apparently Sooyoung was there and I yelled at her for telling me to stop being stupid. I don't remember that part or anything after that, I promise."

Sangyeon isn't sure whether he believes Jaehyun. Whether or not he does, Sangyeon can't see anything past the fact that this is his fault. There is something distinctly embarrassing about the fact he had been only one flimsy layer of control away from begging Jaehyun to come back to him. 

Sangyeon had never wanted to find someone who could make him happier than Jaehyun and he had never really intended to do so. But trying harder to make a good impression, and trying harder to get to know any of his first dates, might have ended up with him doing something he couldn't come back from. Sangyeon might have kissed someone else, might have slept with someone else and learnt to crave their touch, and surely Jaehyun wouldn't have given him a second thought. 

Sangyeon has always been the weaker one. He has always been too scared of a life where he has moved on but he had never wanted to torture himself by hoping that the person he already loves might want to love him forever. He was too weak to choose to walk away and he was too weak to force himself to fall out of love for real. Whilst Sangyeon is weak, Jaehyun is kind. Jaehyun has never refused any of the times Sangyeon couldn't stay away and Sangyeon has always wished Jaehyun could be less kind since he knows how weak Sangyeon is. 

The kindness doesn't feel nice right now. 

"I'm sorry that I asked you to marry me," Sangyeon mumbles. It wasn't Sangyeon who asked, not this silly question which welled over whilst he was under the influence of something he'd never noticed, but he is sorry. He is saying it enough that the word has lost its meaning by now. This is all he can do until he has the answers to make things up to everyone else. 

"It's okay."

"You should tell me 'no' when I ask for things that you don't want. You shouldn't keep feeling like you have to let me do whatever I want." Hesitation lingers in Jaehyun's face so Sangyeon adds, "I'm not just talking about the wedding. I mean all the other times that we get back together too."

"Sangyeon, I wouldn't say 'yes' to you if you were asking things that I didn't want to give you," Jaehyun says. "But maybe we went too far this time. If we break up again right now, you won't come back to me, will you?" 

"Are you sure you're not lying to me, Jaehyun?" 

"I'm not lying. I really don't remember. But even if we were sober, the only thing which would have stopped me from agreeing are the thoughts that I have now," Jaehyun says. He slots his fingers through Sangyeon’s and squeezes tight enough to make Sangyeon’s hand feel numb. In fact Sangyeon’s face and his belly and his arms and legs all feel numb too. Having the weight of Jaehyun’s stare on him is too much. He really does need to sleep this off. "Being married feels like a mistake, right? A bigger mistake than anything else we have done. All those past mistakes never mattered because you always came back to me but you won't come back this time if I let you go."

Sangyeon can't look at Jaehyun. This feels like a conversation they have had before but these words are all different. Something doesn't quite fit. "I shouldn't have made you take me back all those other times."

"But you wanted to. I wanted you to do it too. I want you to do it again."

"You don't want to get married."

"It's too late for that."

"You're too young for commitment."

"Right now I am older than you were when you decided you wanted commitment."

Sangyeon exhales through his nose slowly. This isn't a game however Jaehyun is almost smiling as though he has executed a foolproof gambit. Sangyeon isn't caught just yet. How can he be when Jaehyun never set any of this up? 

"Jaehyun, you need to stop saying things because you think I want to hear them. You don't want to be stuck with me your whole life. That's perfectly fine. You don't need to pretend things have changed since we woke up."

At least frustration crests in Jaehyun's countenance. He isn't winning.

"Things have changed, Sangyeon. I had already changed my mind before we got on the plane. And now I know that you won't come back to me if we end things now."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

"It isn't."

"If you changed your mind once, you can do it again," Sangyeon points out. Jaehyun nods. 

"I could. So could you."

As stupid and easy as the retort is, Jaehyun is right. Sangyeon needs a clear mind but talking in circles with Jaehyun is making his head hurt.

"Jaehyun, can we take a break from this discussion?" 

  
  


* * *

  
  


There is more screaming. 

Jaehyun groans and tries to pull a pillow over his face but it is obvious that it isn't the good sort of groaning. Sangyeon stops thrusting into the familiar comfort of Jaehyun and sighs. 

"Sunwoo, please stop screaming, I have a headache."

Sunwoo does not stop screaming. 

"How do you keep getting into our room?" Jaehyun yells into his pillow. "Do we not have a lock on our door?" 

"We'll come back later," Hyunjun says as he drags Sunwoo out and slams the door behind them. 

Alone once more, Sangyeon strokes his thumb across Jaehyun's hip and leans over to drop a quick kiss on his shoulder. "Am I alright to keep going?" 

Jaehyun snorts and pulls his face out of the pillow to glance over his shoulder and says, "Please."

Despite the interruption, the break from the conversation is good. Sangyeon can't say he has missed being able to touch Jaehyun so intimately because it hasn't even been long since the last time they had sex. By now, Sangyeon supposes the pair of them have made this sort of connection normal. Any of their ambiguous feelings are set aside and they can sink into the feeling of each other. 

Sangyeon loves this, he loves how perfectly he fits with Jaehyun and he loves how perfect Jaehyun sounds as he rocks back into his thrusts and draws him in needily. 

Sangyeon needs this too, knowing that both of them can so easily bring about ecstacy within each other. Whether or not they are allowed to admit that they are still in love, this has always been constant. 

When Jaehyun comes, groaning into the pillow clutched to his chest, Sangyeon thinks maybe things can return to normal. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


"You haven't even showered or opened a window or anything," Sunwoo wails as Hyunjun drags him into the room. He is right, but Sangyeon doesn't feel like he needs to admit that. In fact, Sangyeon and Jaehyun had a few more rounds whilst everyone else was enjoying themselves at a wonderful dinner with fire-breathers and acrobats contorting all over the table. 

"You didn't actually have to come here," Jaehyun grumbles. "How do you keep getting in here? You didn't even knock just now."

"We got your room added to our keycards," Hyunjun supplies. He offers a bread roll he swiped from the table and wrapped in a napkin before bringing it up to the room. As nice an offer as it is, Sangyeon doubts that he and Jaehyun would both get their fill of one bread roll. 

"How did you do that?" Jaehyun frowns. 

"We just asked," Hyunjun shrugs, not at all affected by Sunwoo's glowering. 

"That sounds scary," Jaehyun grumbles. "How is the security so lax that it was that easy?" 

"We told the receptionist that this was our parents' room."

Sangyeon sits up straighter and glances between Sunwoo and Hyunjun. "And they believed that you two have the same parents?"

"We're giving them the benefit of the doubt," Sunwoo scowls. "We could be step-brothers."

"And we're your parents? I love you, but you keep walking in on us and I have to wonder why the hotel allowed that."

"They checked with Haknyeon," Hyunjun chirps. "He verified it and  _ voila. _ "

Jaehyun lunges for the keycard held tantalisingly in front of his face but Hyunjun is quicker and tucks it back into his pocket. 

"Why are you here?" Sangyeon asks before Jaehyun can get any more annoyed. 

"I'm here to speak to Jaehyun," Sunwoo says as though his intentions had been obvious all along. "As my fellow Best Man, I need you to beg Haknyeon for your job back. I made the executive decision of promoting Changmin to deputy Best Man and I think he is trying to become a full Best Man by getting me out of the way. I thought he was my friend but I think he is trying to give me a heart attack so I die and he gets all the glory."

"Sunwoo got so scared he peed himself," Hyunjun adds gleefully. 

Unsurprisingly, the violent red of Sunwoo's face isn't convincing as he rounds on Hyunjun. "I did not pee! I said I  _ almost  _ peed! I spilled my drink!" 

"He peed!" Hyunjun shrieks as Sunwoo digs clawed fingers into his ribs. 

Just in case someone does end up peeing, Sangyeon intervenes and manages to drag Sunwoo away from Hyunjun and onto the other bed beside Jaehyun. What Sangyeon doesn't expect is the mortified expression on Jaehyun's face. 

"Hey." Jaehyun jolts and looks up at Sangyeon at the word. "I'm sure Hyunjun is joking about the pee."

Ignoring Hyunjun’s indignant "I'm not," Sangyeon waits for Jaehyun to do something normal. 

"I know," Jaehyun says with a weak smile. Sangyeon can't even ask what the problem is because he needs to drag Sunwoo away from Hyunjun again. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sangyeon might not have been able to avoid overhearing the conversation even if he tried. But waking up in the middle of the night to hear Jaehyun quietly talking with his parents instantly fills Sangyeon with guilt. 

The light orange glow in Sangyeon’s periphery must be from the bedside lamp of the other bed but that shouldn't be enough to wake him up, not that Jaehyun's gentle voice would have been the cause. 

The tinny response of Jaehyun’s mother through the videocall might have done it. 

"If you're joking, honey, I really will disown you."

Jaehyun laughs, quiet, soft. "I'm not joking, mum. How many times do you need me to say it?" 

"I'll believe it when I hear it from Sangyeon."

"He's asleep," Jaehyun says carefully. "He might not want to tell you though. Like I said, we were drunk, so I think he might regret it. We might get divorced."

Sangyeon screws his eyes shut tighter but he doesn't magically fall asleep and he certainly doesn't feel the sharp contraction in his chest abate. Just in case he isn't suffering enough, Jaehyun's mother has a gameplan. 

"As soon as he wakes up, you need to beg him to keep you, Jaehyun. Fight for him. Promise me that you will make him realise how much you still love him. If he still wants to leave you then you can say that you did all you could and that won't make you any less of a man. But please try for the sake of your own happiness."

Sangyeon sits up. He isn't even sure if he intends to tell Jaehyun's mother what's what, whether he could even hold his nerve enough to lie to her face, but Jaehyun makes the decision for him. 

"Mum, I've got to go. I love you. Sleep well."

Sangyeon switches on the bedside lamp nearest to him and watches Jaehyun embarrassedly blow kisses to his mum through the phone before she eventually allows him to hang up. And once she is gone there is just Sangyeon and Jaehyun looking at each other across the gap between the beds. 

"I had to tell my mum," Jaehyun says, "I at least need to give my parents some warning before… They have to pay for me to get divorced."

"That's not what that sounded like," Sangyeon points out. 

"I'm just trying to ease her into the divorce part." 

"When are you going to get to that part?" 

Jaehyun opens his mouth but immediately closes it again as he surveys Sangyeon. "I thought you were listening the whole time. I mentioned it. But I also want you to know that I don't want you to leave me."

"Jaehyun, we broke up all those times for a reason."

"Exactly. One reason. And the reason isn't that you don't love me anymore."

Sangyeon sighs. He has never stopped loving Jaehyun, but he had never been stupid enough to hope that Jaehyun would ever change his mind or say anything like this. 

Right now they are on the other side of the world to where their real lives exist. Jaehyun can say anything and the consequences aren't all that great. When they return home he could remember exactly how things are and he would return to the same attitude he had before they set foot in this place. 

He can't do this. He still loves Jaehyun but he can't put himself through more of this. 

He leaves the room. 

The fact that places like this never really close down for the sake of nightfall is good when Sangyeon needs somewhere to hide away. He charges drink after drink to the room, feeling distinctly petty for the fact that Haknyeon is acting as though the marriage is unforgivable. Sangyeon can forgive Haknyeon for getting married, for seeing his own love story through to the climax whilst friends like Sangyeon and Jaehyun are punished for giving into the pretence of happiness. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


On the eve of the wedding, Sangyeon bumps into Jiwoo in line for the continental breakfast. She cranes her neck to look around Sangyeon’s tray and she stretches on tiptoe and by the time they reach the platter of croissants she gives up waiting for Sangyeon to be the polite one. 

"Good morning, Sangyeon, you look well," Jiwoo shouts cheerfully. Sangyeon doesn't feel well. He has a splitting headache though he can't remember how deeply-rooted the headache was prior to the yelled greeting. 

"Morning, Jiwoo. Are you excited for tomorrow?" 

"Not particularly," Jiwoo says thoughtfully. She glances up and grins in response to Sangyeon’s frown. "I already knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life together with him. Tomorrow is a big party but that doesn't make it more special than any other day I get to spend with Haknyeon."

"That's really cute. Is that in your vows or something?" 

Jiwoo giggles and plates up a croissant which she passes to Sangyeon. "My vows are much more boring than that. Just lots of mushy stuff about our wedding being the first day of the rest of our lives."

"You might as well tell me now," Sangyeon says, "I was uninvited from your wedding, remember." 

Jiwoo scoffs and pops another croissant on Sangyeon’s plate. "You can still come. How can I get married without the other happy couple there to share the day?" 

"Are you being sarcastic?" Sangyeon asks as he shuffles aside. Fruitcake looks like a nutritious breakfast. Sangyeon uses the tongs to get some fruitcake and Jiwoo claps her hands together and holds her hand out for the tongs. 

"I'm not being sarcastic! You're married! That's exciting too!" 

"It isn't exciting," Sangyeon says tiredly. "It was a horrible accident."

"Apparently you were drugged," Jiwoo says without caring too much about her volume. "But Sooyoung was looking after you so it was all fine. Your friends did something silly but something beautiful came of it."

It doesn't feel particularly beautiful, not when Sangyeon can't shake off the knowledge that this is the opposite of what Jaehyun really wants. They broke up all those times before because Jaehyun hadn't wanted marriage. Just like Sangyeon had fallen for the fairytale his sister was living, Jaehyun favoured the life his own sister had chosen, not tied-down to anyone and free to flit about without interference. 

Being married is an awfully big interference but Sangyeon can't quite work out why Jaehyun is claiming he doesn't mind it. Of course there is the fact that the marriage is a wake-up call. Divorcing should be the last time they break up. They are grown men who should stop indulging in bad habits for the sake of convenience. 

Jiwoo forces Sangyeon to sit with her and she smiles. She wouldn't understand even if Sangyeon explained it all to her. Just as Sangyeon was around to witness the love story between Jiwoo and Haknyeon, Jiwoo was present for many of the petty fights and breakups which formed the bulk of Sangyeon’s relationship with Jaehyun. Seeing their fights isn't enough to truly know anything. 

"Are we allowed to talk to him?" 

Jiwoo stops smiling at Sangyeon and twists in her seat to look up at the apprehensive young woman with her breakfast tray in hand. 

"I am the bride,Jungeun! I can talk to whomever I wish! Anyway, Sooyoung is more mad at the other one." 

Jiwoo's friend takes that as an invitation to sit and she stares into Sangyeon’s morbid expression for a moment before laughing. 

"Gosh, you look terrible," Jungeun giggles. "Anyway, Jiwoo, I think it would be fun if we got matching mani-pedis."

Jiwoo frowns. "All of the bridesmaids too?" 

"Just the two of us. So we match for the wedding."

Jiwoo grins. "If I am matching anyone tomorrow, shouldn't it be my husband?" 

Jungeun rolls her eyes and prods Sangyeon, interrupting his quality time with the croissant from Jiwoo. "Tell her she should match me. We're best friends. She can match Haknyeon anytime."

"Are you trying to gang up on the bride on the day before the wedding?" Jiwoo asks as she leans closer to glare at the two of them. "Acts of treason will not be tolerated! If either of you want to come to my wedding it will be with matching manicures!" 

* * *

Jiwoo is unfortunately serious so Sangyeon spends the morning sitting beside Jungeun in one of the hotel salons getting a manicure. 

Sangyeon watches the nail technician paint roulette wheels and card suits onto his ring and index fingers on his left hand. It looks terrible, and Sangyeon is more than aware that the fault lies entirely with him. Jungeun had even pretended not to know Sangyeon when the nail technician called over a colleague to berate him for having overgrown cuticles and not moisturising enough. She does acknowledge him again when they are leaving. 

"They knew we came in together," Sangyeon points out as he points out their matching designs. 

Jungeun presses her lips together but she can't quite hide her smile. She admires their glossy nails and wriggles her fingers. 

"This is almost as good as matching with Jiwoo."

"Is it?" 

"No," Jungeun says, "But you look like you need someone to tell you something like that. Is married life not treating you well?" 

Sangyeon sighs. "Honestly, no. Jaehyun doesn't want to get married."

"But you're married already. Isn't it a bit late for him to change his mind?" 

Sangyeon isn't sure he wants to discuss this with Jungeun. She doesn't know him well and there is too much to explain. He shakes his head. "If you really want to make me feel better, you should go and marry someone today."

"Who am I supposed to marry? I'm single."

"That didn't stop me," Sangyeon points out. "Who will say yes? How about that little princess one?" 

Jungeun laughs. "Who an earth is that supposed to be? Would a princess marry me?" 

"Why wouldn't a princess marry you? Who else then?" 

"I think I just want to get married the normal way, like Jiwoo," Jungeun says decisively. Sangyeon wouldn't agree that Jiwoo is getting married the normal way seeing as Haknyeon flew the entire wedding party out to Las Vegas for no reason at all. 22 friends and likely even more relatives. Sangyeon can't think of anyone else whose wedding plans hinged on a lottery jackpot and hoping the bride's interest was flirtatious and not simply good customer service. 

Sangyeon sighs. A normal marriage is too much to even imagine. "Do you at least have an idea of who you would marry?" 

Jungeun sighs and her shoulder knocks into Sangyeon’s arm. It seems like an accident as she glances up at him and sighs. "Not really. Part of me thinks falling in love with a friend would be nice because they would already know the important parts of me, but I can't imagine any of my friends liking me that way. At least not since I have grown up a bit. And having a meet-cute would be nice too but what if I keep looking out for connections which aren't really there?"

"You could just try dating," Sangyeon suggests. 

"Who has that ever worked for?" Jungeun asks. There is an odd sharpness to her voice and she makes a sound which is too abrasive to be a laugh. 

"Lots of people," Sangyeon says despite the impulse in his brain screaming at him to protect himself and maybe shut up. "When we all get home, should I try to set you up with someone?" 

"No. I don't even know if I want to be with anyone," Jungeun says. "It doesn't matter."

Sangyeon suspects it does matter but they are strangers. He drops the subject. They go for a late brunch and Jungeun laments the fact that her dress for tomorrow isn't very forgiving whilst heaping more meat onto her plate. 

Aside from complaining about her diet whilst shoving more food into her mouth and riddling Sangyeon for lunch suggestions, Jungeun is fun to spend time with. Each laugh is a full sound as her mouth falls wide open and once she has composed herself she makes sure to tell Sangyeon he is funny. It would probably be annoying if Sangyeon weren't so desperate for the ego-boost. He is glad someone in Vegas finds him funny. 

Just in case Jungeun changes her mind about wanting to be set up on a date, he begins cataloguing little pieces of information: foods she likes, where she works, how she unwinds after work, worst birthdays, how she met Jiwoo amongst others, the odd sense of responsibility she feels amongst her group of friends. He is certain someone he sort of knew would love to absorb all those pieces of knowledge and make Jungeun feel special. 

They venture out to the Vegas strip for lunch when Jungeun announces there are twelve Korean barbeque restaurants within easy distance. 

"What are you going to do about your dress?" Sangyeon asks as Jungeun takes a picture of their matching manicures to send to Jiwoo. 

"I don't know," she admits, squinting through one eye at her phone whilst swigging her beer. "Maybe I will find some scissors to give myself some room."

"Won't you stand out from the other bridesmaids if you have sexy cut outs?" 

"That's the idea."

One of the other bridesmaids appears, mysteriously, and joins them at their table. Jinsol smiles at both of them and folds her hands on the table. 

"I have good news for you. You can come to the wedding. Yay!" 

"Wait," Jungeun frowns. "Was  _ I _ uninvited?" 

Jinsol nodded. "Jiwoo said you were conspiring against her. Don't you remember that?" 

"No?" Jungeun whined. "How could she uninvite me?" 

"I don't know," Jinsol said cheerily through gritted teeth. "Does it matter? You're back in the wedding again. Yay!" 

Jungeun doesn't look particularly happy about that but she perks up enough to tell Sangyeon off for taking too much meat from the grill. 

Even more determined to cheer Jungeun up, especially after the shock of being uninvited and reinvited to the wedding so suddenly, Sangyeon takes his chance when she goes to the bathroom. He makes up a wrap for Jinsol to get her onside. 

"Hey, Jinsol. What is Jungeun's type?" 

The baffled frown in response is not promising. 

"You're married. Did you forget?" 

"I was asking for a friend," Sangyeon grumbles. Shockingly, Jinsol doesn't believe him so Sangyeon is stuck wondering whether his judgement would be good enough when he eventually pitches the idea of a blind date to a friend of a friend. 

After lunch comes some sightseeing and then dinner. After dinner they get ice cream and Sangyeon hopes that maybe he has made a friend here in Vegas. 

The day is a good day considering the way it started. The problem is, Jaehyun isn't in their room when Sangyeon returns at the end of the day to share the news that at least one of them earned back their invitation. Sangyeon doesn't mind. Tomorrow is the big day. He might as well get some rest. 

* * *

Sangyeon wakes up quietly on the day of the wedding. No screaming, no Jaehyun, nothing. 

Sangyeon isn't sad. He doesn't care. The important part of the day is the wedding, not whatever Sangyeon is bothered by. 

He gets ready, alone, and wonders whether he looks presentable enough when the door knocks. 

Unfortunately Jaehyun hasn't forgotten his keycard. Haseul is standing in the hallway, grinning at Sangyeon with her arms spread wide. 

"Happy wedding day!" 

"Happy wedding day," Sangyeon returns awkwardly. 

"Are you ready?" Haseul asks. "A few of us are going to brunch before the wedding. But we don't have much time so we have to go now, alright?" 

Sangyeon doesn't have anything better to do despite how early it is. He would consider this to still be breakfast time but he would rather not argue the toss with Haseul. He might as well go to brunch. 

Haseul loops her arm around Sangyeon’s as she leads the way. Her dress is pretty, but with all the champagne sequins, Sangyeon can't tell what Jungeun could possibly do to give herself more breathing room. 

"Is that dress tight?" 

Haseul laughs. She stops and tugs at her dress for illustrative purposes. "It's fine! I can eat as much as I want. Look at this A-line! The fun sequin layer isn't tight or clingy at all! The shoes on the other hand… They might not even be my shoes. There is something weird about them. Are you wearing the right shoes?" 

"I am wearing the right shoes," Sangyeon confirms. That seems to make Haseul happy as she pulls Sangyeon into the lift. 

"Who else is coming to brunch?" 

Haseul hesitates. "Hyunjin, of course! Um, and Sooyoung must be bringing some people. Just a few people before the wedding."

That doesn't explain particularly much but Sangyeon decides not to question things. Haseul probably doesn't know exactly who Sangyeon knows amongst the bridal party. He doesn't know all the names anyway. He certainly doesn't know who Hyunjin is. 

It turns out that Sangyeon doesn't know a lot. He had no idea that the hotel did brunch outside at the stone-lion fountains near the ground-floor pool. 

He also had no idea that brunch involved people standing around the fountains and waiting around and chatting, dressed and ready for the wedding this afternoon. There aren't any tables or chairs for anyone to eat any brunch but Sangyeon could be missing something on account of being drugged the other day. 

As Haseul said, Sooyoung is there along with some people she must have brought with her such as Jaehyun. For brunch. And not for whatever reason Eric is sobbing into Jaehyun's chest. 

Sangyeon apologises quietly as he excuses himself from Haseul to see what is wrong (aside from the lack of brunch). 

"Hey, Eric, baby, what's wrong?" 

Eric looks up, snotty and teary, turning his watery eyes on Sangyeon and then back to Jaehyun. "Nothing. I am… happy." 

"Are you sure?" Sangyeon asks. "Jaehyun, what happened? What did you do to him?" 

Something akin to guilt passes over Jaehyun's face for a second before he says, "I need to talk to you privately for a second."

Sangyeon nods and watches as one of Jiwoo's friends, smiling kindly and offering cheery words in a small voice, beckons Eric over so she can lead him to someone else willing to be constricted in a tight embrace. Jaehyun gestures and they make their way to a quieter place, a stretch of grass near the pool decorated with zoological topiary. The detail in the eyes of the big cats is impressive and Sangyeon wonders just how small the shears were to cut the bushes down to such perfect carvings. 

"Hey—" 

"Where did you go yesterday?" Sangyeon interrupts. "You didn't come back to the room." 

"I had things to do," Jaehyun says tightly. He looks exhausted, face drawn and bags under his eyes. Sangyeon isn't going to get a good answer. He gives up on that. It isn't any of his business anyway. 

"Alright. What about Eric? Why is he crying?" 

"He's happy. I told him something that made him happy."

"What did you tell him?" 

Jaehyun laughs awkwardly. "It is difficult to say it now. I… Today I got our wedding certificate."

"Is it real then?" 

"Yes."

"And you're telling everyone about it?" 

"I told Eric," Jaehyun says. 

Eric isn't known for keeping secrets. Jaehyun has essentially told everyone. 

"He's crying because we're married?" 

"In his defence, your parents both cried too."

"You told my parents?" 

"No," Jaehyun says quickly, hands spread and eyes skittish. That doesn't diminish the sense of alarm. Regardless of what Jaehyun claims, Sangyeon knows his parents would have a wonderful time making fun of him for ending up married to someone he rants about several times a day. He has seen the flat disinterest in their faces and heard the insincere agreement in their voices but Sangyeon never could shut himself up when it came to Jaehyun. They will be happy that there is a new topic of complaint they'll need to hear about. "I asked. I asked them if it was cool if I asked you to marry me."

"We're already married," Sangyeon points out. 

"We are. And I don't want a divorce or an annulment. I want to give this a go. And if I want to be with you, forever, you don't have a reason to pretend you don't want me, right?" 

Sangyeon doesn't want to talk about this now. Yes, he hasn't been able to shed the feelings he had for Jaehyun since they were first together, and he is embarrassingly eager to draw his ex back into his life, and he asked Jaehyun to marry him. Those are all stupid things Sangyeon doesn't want to have to face up to. But Jaehyun is right, in a way. The need to get over Jaehyun was the reason behind all the issues he came up with, all the things he started fights about. 

"I will find something else to mess things up between us," Sangyeon says. "I always do."

Jaehyun smiles. He sinks down to one knee. Sangyeon takes a step back. This isn't what he had expected. This also doesn't appear to be what Jaehyun expected either because his expression sours and he keeps patting his pockets. 

"What the hell are you doing?" 

"Nothing," Jaehyun says tightly. "I just forgot something."

"What… did you forget?" 

Jaehyun doesn't answer and instead shouts over his shoulder. "Sooyoung, you didn't give me the ring."

"What ring?" Sangyeon asks. 

"Pretend I have a ring," Jaehyun says as he turns to look back up at Sangyeon. He even holds his hands up as though holding a ring box in his palms. "Sangyeon, will you make me the happiest man on earth and stay married to me?" 

A well-timed coughing fit from someone standing behind a topiary elephant, clad in a dressing gown and slippers who looked very much like Haknyeon leads Jaehyun to make an amendment. 

"Sangyeon, will you make me the second happiest man on earth and stay married to me?" 

Sangyeon looks up at Haknyeon behind the elephant bush, Jiwoo peering from behind him with glee in her eyes. 

"If Haknyeon is the happiest, and you're second, where am I on that list?" Sangyeon asks. 

"You tell me," Jaehyun says with a quiet smile. 

Sangyeon reaches for Jaehyun's hands and mimes plucking a ring from the box. Jaehyun's smile widens impossibly further across his face and his eyes gain a sheen as they follow Sangyeon’s empty hands. Sangyeon slides the invisible ring on Jaehyun's finger. 

"Oh my god. Is this a yes? Can we stay married? If you're messing with me right now I will cry. I will take the kids in the divorce." 

"If we divorce you can take the kids," Sangyeon agrees. 

"Do you really mean it?" 

Sangyeon does mean it. Part of him thinks this doesn't really matter anyway. Perhaps they will break up again as soon as they arrive home. Maybe this is all just pretend, just a play to reenact before they must return to reality and all the other things they must be forgetting about. 

He wants this so much, has ached deep inside since the day he found out that this wasn't anything Jaehyun wanted. He wants this enough that he is going to pretend to himself that he can be happy with just a few more days of Jaehyun. 

"You can take everything if this ends."

Sangyeon can hear the waver in his own voice. Jaehyun already has everything anyway. It won't make a difference if he takes it all back. At least, that is what Sangyeon tells himself as Jaehyun laughs, dustings of disbelief following with the sparkle of his smile. 

He is perfect. He is trembling as he stands. It feels a bit like keeping him upright when Sangyeon pulls him close. He grips so tight. Tighter than Sangyeon can remember, though that is a lie too. Sangyeon remembers the last time Jaehyun held him this tightly, the night before Sangyeon took the last of his things worth bothering about. 

Jaehyun had shrugged and scoffed like he didn't care when Sangyeon said he had convinced his parents to let him have his bedroom back. He hadn't even bothered fighting with Sangyeon that evening and was quiet when he suggested Sangyeon stay the night because it would be easier to make sure he had everything in the morning. 

The excuse hadn't made any sense but it was enough to get Sangyeon into bed. It was enough for them both to pretend lots of different things as they had sex without bothering to make sure it was good for each other. It didn't matter. It was one of their many last times. And afterwards, Sangyeon’s arms went numb under Jaehyun's grip. 

Sangyeon wants Jaehyun to want him, so he pretends he thinks this is all real when Jiwoo leads Haknyeon over to congratulate them on nothing at all. 

"You have to hurry!" Jiwoo says, sounding somewhere between very pleased and very crossed. "We have a lot of preparations before it is our turn. I thought you were never going to say yes and then I would have had to get married in a dressing gown." 

"You would be the most beautiful bride in the world even if you had to marry me in a dressing gown," Haknyeon says sweetly as he smiles at Jiwoo. He looks a lot happier than the last time Sangyeon saw him, which isn't saying much. Anything would look happier than when he uninvited Sangyeon and Jaehyun from the wedding but right now he looks like he has discovered a new frontier of joy. The pair of them are bliss incarnate. 

"Are we invited?" Sangyeon asks, not even a little bit guilty for interrupting one of their frequent moments. Jiwoo doesn't seem to mind as she grabs one of Sangyeon’s hands to inspect his nails. 

"Ooh, very pretty," she says. "Didn't I already re-invite you and Jungeun together?" 

"Good, good, then go back to everyone and get married!" 

Jiwoo starts pushing Sangyeon away and he doesn't quite understand why. His alarm is not shared by Jaehyun who instead smiles guiltily. 

"What is happening right now?" 

"Well," Jaehyun says whilst taking Sangyeon’s free hand and walking briskly alongside him as Jiwoo continues her task joined by Haknyeon. "Neither of us remember getting married, so I spent yesterday planning for us to do things the right way. Our families can't be here physically but they are going to watch. At least we have friends here."

They do have a lot of friends here courtesy of Haknyeon's big win. Sangyeon wonders why nobody at home bothered to warn him what Jaehyun was up to. Though he could have gone ahead and used the foresight to think up an excuse to say no. It is better like this, making the most of whatever happiness exists before things inevitably fall apart. Until then, Sangyeon doesn't need to worry about saying no. He said yes. He has what he wants. 

And then he remembers  _ why  _ they ended up married in the first place. 

"Are Jacob and Younghoon here?" Sangyeon asks. "What if they want us to apologise because we said we're staying married."

They are getting closer. Sangyeon needs to know. Younghoon is already looking misty-eyed. 

"They still haven't apologised to us," Jaehyun reasons. "We don't need to apologise for anything."

"Alright. Good. Will you stop me if I yell at them for twenty minutes?" 

"Absolutely not, honey, I will join in." 

Sangyeon laughs, relieved. He should probably be feeling ambushed, especially when Jaehyun shoots a very conspicuous thumbs up. Instantly, Jinsol begins ushering people to stand in a crescent-shape around the near side of the fountain, Hyunjun hushes someone on his phone and stands as directed, and Sooyoung stands in the middle of the group looking like a deer in headlights. 

"I told you to give me the rings," Jaehyun whines when they are pushed close enough by Jiwoo and Haknyeon. "I had to pretend. What if Sangyeon said no because I didn't have any rings?" 

Sooyoung rolls her eyes. "What were you going to do at your little pretend ceremony if you already had the rings?" 

"Touché," Jaehyun allows. "Speaking of: did you get someone to marry us?" 

As Sooyoung and Jaehyun fall into one of their usual squabbles, Sangyeon looks around at their friends (some more strangers than friends but they feel like they could be friends too), and at Jaehyun's family held in Haseul's hands, and at his own family held by Hyunjun. He can't meet anyone's eyes. This is awful. Getting married is embarrassing. 

"Jiwoo," Sangyeon says seriously, "Are you sure you want to go ahead with your wedding? This is horrible 

Even more people are going to be just staring at you."

Jiwoo laughs and smacks Sangyeon’s arm. "Stop looking at everybody else! Are you going to just be worrying about everyone else for your whole marriage?"

Sangyeon has always been looking at Jaehyun. It is weird to hear anything to the contrary of that. 

Looking at Jaehyun now, he is smiling even as he is losing against Sooyoung. He is happy. He really, really looks happy. 

"I love you."

Jaehyun looks away from Sooyoung, shy smile, and grabs Sangyeon’s arm. "I love you too. I just… I wanted to do this properly with someone to marry us so we could remember it this time."

"Me!" The exclamation is followed by a scream and a loud splash and the insistent utterance, "I will do it! I'll marry you!" 

Changmin is smiling as he nudges Sooyoung out of the way. Sunwoo, being dragged out of the fountain by Chanhee (who is putting no effort into his assistance) and Haseul's frowny friend (who is doing all of the work) is not smiling at all. 

Jaehyun looks conflicted before he says, "Fine. You can do it but only because we need to hurry before Sunwoo dies of hypothermia."

"He'll be fine," Changmin asserts whilst patting Jaehyun on the shoulder encouragingly. "I won't let you down. And if I do a really good job, how about letting me take care of your best man duties?" 

"Seeing as I have none right now, absolutely," Jaehyun says, "Knock yourself out."

Changmin is pleased as he affects far too much pomp and rambles on despite Haknyeon whining at him to hurry up. And then comes the part where Changmin reaches the end of his waffling and says, "Now for some words prepared by the happy couple."

"What?" 

Jaehyun looks panicked. "You don't have to say anything. Thinking of what I wanted to tell you took up most of the day."

"So you prepared a whole speech and I say nothing?" 

"Baby, everyone is watching us. I won't say anything until we're alone, alright?" 

That has to be good enough. Sangyeon shrugs. "Just skip to the kissing," he tells Changmin. 

"Nobody wants to see you kiss," Changmin says. 

"Changmin—" 

"Sooyoung, quickly! The rings," Jaehyun hisses. Sooyoung takes her time about handing over the ring box but it isn't so bad. Sangyeon and Jaehyun exchange rings and they don't need to say anything at all. Perhaps they will never need to say anything at all. 

* * *

The wedding which was planned, the wedding between Jiwoo and Haknyeon is lovely, of course. Jiwoo's dress is a white gown with a long train and her veil is embroidered with fragmented gold. 

Sangyeon watches the way Haknyeon can't see anything other than the woman he loves, and he watches the tears which brim in Jungeun's eyes.

"They look so happy," Sangyeon says. 

"They are," Jaehyun says, quiet. "And we're happy too, right?" 

Sangyeon nods. Maybe this will be their forever. Maybe they won't have to wake up from this happiness. This is exactly what he wanted for longer than he would care to admit. 

He is happy. 

Jaehyun slips his hand into Sangyeon’s, the weight of it different with a ring on his fourth finger. Sangyeon decides he will try to get used to it. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i had 8k of this written for months and (because i never normally plan fics) i didn't have an ending for this so it was sitting in my docs unfinished. luckily an answer came to me when i needed attention the most so… i posted it wooo
> 
> if you managed to stick with this until the end, thank you very much! kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!!!


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